Crazy weather

On Friday we had some major weather out here. What started out as a quick moving thunderstorm turned out to be a tornado. Without any warning, the winds picked up so fast that we couldn't even see across the street. The trees seemed to bend down to the ground and hail the size of golf balls fell on the cars. Brad herded us all in the basement where we sat in the dark (no power) using our camping lanterns (they really came in handy!) to see. When it was all over, the weather service confirmed a tornado had indeed come through Wethersfield.

We had some damage on our street, but only trees and minor house damage. When we drove around town, we realized how lucky we were.

The town green, which is surrounded by colonial era trees is ripped up to shreds. Trees that were over 200 years old have been ripped out of the ground. I guess all the rain we've had over the last few months really softened up the grounds enough for the trees to come right out.

It seems that the tornado went down one street in particular (church street) from one end of town to another and ripped up trees plopping them down on houses. Luckily no one was hurt.

We were without power for 25 hours, but we have it back now (yay CL&P).

Brad made good use of his chain saw, helping to clear the roads and people's driveways!

A trip to the midwest

Last week the kids and I were in Wisconsin to visit the cousins! I was pretty impressed by how easy our travels were (our bag came was waiting for us in baggage claim just as we walked up...and our ride was right outside the door, pretty good!)

The kids had a great time playing with Cousins Ainsley and Beatrix (baby B as Luke still calls her). We went to a cute little park/zoo and saw a few animals, hit the mall playground a few times and got to party with Ainsley for her big birthday!

Olivia really impressed me with her sudden swimming skills at the pool. Glad those 2 weeks really paid off!!

Amazingly, we left the low 70 degree temperatures behind in CT and hit the 80s out in Wisconsin! Who would have thought the weather would be better out there!

When will it get warmer??

When will it actually become summer? It's June 15th and we're still wearing pants most of the time!! We're eagerly awaiting warmer weather. Olivia finished her swim lessons last week, but we haven't made it to the pool to practice our new skills! (by the way, that shot of Olivia giving me the thumbs up was the only smile in her 1 hour class. She was so freaked about the deep end and the diving board, she cried the WHOLE class!...SO unusual for her!)

Dance class ended last week too. We skipped the recital, but I don't think she noticed she wasn't in it! She sure had fun in that class though. Luke likes to sit and watch the video I took of the class. Again and again...

We're inbetween activities, camp starts in a few weeks, so we're heading to Wisconsin to visit the cousins this week! Looking forward to catching up with them!

Camping 101

So, we took our first trip camping this past weekend. I was not sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't all the stuff we needed!! We had packed most of the trunk before we realized that we were going to need a roof bag for a lot of stuff! (probably a good investment anyway since we'll be heading to the beach this summer again) So, Cabela's it was for another addition to our camping arsenal!


I had been making fun of Brad for all the stuff he seemed to think we needed. Like all the lanterns (totally worth it) and the tent over the picnic table...I laughed really hard at that...but WOW was that awesome!! To eat without flies all over the food, and no bugs eating us! Fabulous!

Of course for me camping=S'mores (pretty much the only reason I agreed to camping was for the marshmallow and graham cracker treat). Luckily I have Olivia who loved them as much as I do! Luke wasn't such a fan, but he did like the marshmallows! (and the chocolate of course!)

We head out for another camping trip over 4th of July weekend. That 's a 3 night trip...maybe a bit too ambitious for us at this point, but I guess we'll try it!!

Olivia's Last Day of Preschool 3s

Olivia had her last day of preschool a few weeks ago (sorry, camera and computer were not speaking, so I couldn't post FOREVER). She had a great 1 hour day (WHAT? They finish early and don't even stay for a whole day!!).

We got into the class and I got a little nostalgic remembering her first day. The day when she hardly noticed I even left! Olivia seemed to have made a lot of friends. A boy in the class (Lucio) seemed to have a little crush on her. He would never go to lunch club unless she was going (his mom would check with me, pleading in her eyes) and he must have talked about her a lot because his father seemed to know who she was!

His mom had her camera on the last day and took a picture of him with his teachers, and then he went over to Olivia, grabbed her hand (awww) and said "my mommy wants to take our picture". It was so sweet.

They all headed up to the "family life" room where they had their "concert". I was pretty impressed that they sang for about 25 minutes straight through. They were pretty good (at remembering words, pitch was another story).

Luke spent the whole concert asking if it was over yet...I had to hold him, the video camera and the camera...so the pictures really sucked, but here is one of the whole class.

Camping we will go

One of the things Brad really wanted to do this summer was go camping. Seeing as how my experience in "camping" can only be described as 'Girl Scout Camp', I was a bit wary about agreeing to it. But, in the end I thought it would be fun for the kids (and I'm sure I can find some enjoyment in it...though i probably won't sleep at night for fear of bears and serial killers). Thinking we basically needed a tent, some sleeping bags and some sticks to roast our dinner on, I gave the thumbs up to Brad to start getting the camping gear. Boy was I mislead!

"Camping" these days includes, tents, sleeping bags (Brad bought us North Face...the mummy kind they sleep in on Everest - he does realize I won't camp below 60 degrees right??) lanterns (OK, I understand these), a mini cooktop for cooking (what? No pot hanging over the campfire?), a mini grill for an alternative cooking method, and the kicker....a coffee pot. Really? A coffee pot?! What kind of camping is this? (I noticed there wasn't a bread maker for campers, but oddly enough, in our campers cookbook they have a bread recipe...hmmm) We also have little inflatable mattresses that go under the sleeping bags, and a few other odds and ends. Apparently we're not "roughing it". (now that I think about it, Brad is probably trying to make sure I go more than one time)

Here are a few pictures from our dry run of setting up the tent. We thought it would be smart to avoid any fights at the camp site and set it up at home (in 50 mile an hour winds I might add).

Olivia was really excited to play in it, when Luke got up from his "nap" (aka, playing in his room for 20 minutes) he joined her for a party in the tent.

We go camping in a few weeks. It should be fun...

At the car wash

Olivia LOVES to wash my car. We've done it the last two weekends. While she is really good at scrubbing and getting all the "bug guts" off, what she really likes to do is "rinse" the car off. This is basically her getting the hose and shooting it at the car...and then me...and then the car. So, we end up with a 1/2 clean car and a 1/2 wet me. It's hard getting it away from her! (four year olds can be tough)